Game Details
This is what the envisioned game will include:
1. Two-player game,
2. Adaptive questions pitched to student's performance,
3. Engaging pirates-themed animations, illustrations and backdrop,
4. Flexibility by having easy-to-use tools for teachers to input and modify the questions.
1. Two-player game,
2. Adaptive questions pitched to student's performance,
3. Engaging pirates-themed animations, illustrations and backdrop,
4. Flexibility by having easy-to-use tools for teachers to input and modify the questions.
Sample Screen of Player 1
Sample Screen of Player 2
As a mathematics teacher from my home country Singapore, I understand that for any supplementary material to be successfully adopted, a few important design factors must be factored in.
Firstly, engagement can be often mistaken for learning. This is illustrated by Lin (1999), who argued that completing a hands-on activity like building a model rocket might be full of fun and engagement. However, assessment of the systematic understanding may yield disappointing results. Hence, it is important to have games that guide and scaffold and trigger deep learning. In Boom Boom Pirates!, the goal of the game is the verb of the game; players are constantly challenged to manipulate the geometrical mysteries in order to move ahead. Scaffolding in the form of meaningful hints are given for weaker students. Players are also required to solve challenges under the same geometric standards several times in order to gain sufficient practice and thus proficiency.
Secondly, it is important to make the supplementary material as user-friendly as possible. It is a known fact that teachers do not have the easiest job in the world. By making it easy to add and modify questions, teachers are more likely to use the material. Hence, the game will come with a database of 100 questions, categorized in terms of difficulties. Teachers should have the flexibility of adding new questions or modifying existing questions to cater to the needs of their students.
References
1. Schwartz, D., Brophy, S., Lin, X., & Bransford, J. (1999). Software for Managing Complex Learning: Examples from an Educational Psychology Course. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47, 39-60.
1. Schwartz, D., Brophy, S., Lin, X., & Bransford, J. (1999). Software for Managing Complex Learning: Examples from an Educational Psychology Course. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47, 39-60.
